The King of Fighters '95
The King of Fighters '95 is a 1995 fighting game developed by SNK for the Neo Geo arcade and home console. It is the sequel to The King of Fighters '94 and the second game in The King of Fighters series. It is also the first game in the series to be ported to other home consoles in addition to the Neo Geo AES and Neo Geo CD: PlayStation, Sega Saturn and Game Boy versions. It was also re-released in The King of Fighters Collection: The Orochi Saga re-release in 2008 for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and Wii. The King of Fighters '95 introduces Kyo Kusanagi's rival Iori Yagami and makes Kyo the main character for the rest of the series. The gameplay of The King of Fighters '95 is essentially unchanged from the previous title, although it introduces the "Team Edit" concept that would become a standard feature of the series. With the "Team Edit" feature, it is possible to create a completely customized team from all available fighters or use one of the standard teams.
Story
The King of Fighters '95 marks the beginning of a story arc that later became known as the "Orochi Saga". The only elements from the Orochi Saga that appear in this game are the introduction of Kyo's rival, Iori Yagami, and Rugal's use of the Orochi power. Rugal Bernstein, who was believed to have died in an explosion in the previous game, had actually survived and sent invitations to the teams from the previous game, simply signed "R". Only one of the previous teams did not participate in the new tournament: the American Sports Team, which was now replaced by the "Rival Team," consisting of Iori Yagami, Billy Kane (from Fatal Fury: King of Fighters) and Eiji Kisaragi (from Art of Fighting 2). Saisyu Kusanagi, Kyo's father, makes his first appearance as a fighter (after making a non-playable cameo appearance in KOF '94) as a computer-controlled sub-boss. After defeating Saisyu in arcade mode, it turns out that Saisyu has been brainwashed and that Rugal will fight again as a boss character, but in an improved version called "Omega Rugal".